Effective stakeholder communication is about more than communicating clearly. It requires understanding who matters, what matters to them, how different stakeholders see the same issue, and how to adapt your approach without losing sight of your objectives.
This course helps participants identify and prioritize stakeholders, understand their interests and concerns, design messages for different audiences, and build support when priorities or perspectives differ.
Particular attention is given to influencing without formal authority—situations where success depends on credibility, judgment, framing, relationships, timing, and effective requests rather than telling people what to do.
The course is practical and highly interactive, combining structured frameworks, realistic workplace cases, discussion, and communication exercises. Rather than focusing primarily on presentation technique, it examines the strategic decisions behind who needs to hear what, when, how, and why.
This course is designed for working professionals who need to communicate strategically with people whose support matters, but whose decisions they cannot simply direct.
It may be especially useful for people who need to:
build support for ideas, proposals, projects, or change
work across teams, functions, organizations, or levels of seniority
adapt communication for stakeholders with different priorities
influence colleagues, managers, clients, or partners without formal authority
respond constructively to resistance and competing interests
keep multiple stakeholders aligned as an issue moves forward
SSC101 is a standalone course. Previous participation in Leading Difficult Conversations (LDC101) is not required.
By the end of the course, participants will be better able to:
map and prioritize stakeholders according to influence, interest, relationships, and communication needs
understand stakeholder motivations, concerns, constraints, and decision criteria
adapt messages for different audiences while maintaining a consistent strategic objective
frame proposals and requests in ways that increase relevance and buy-in
influence colleagues and stakeholders without relying on formal authority
respond constructively to resistance and competing interests
plan the sequence, channel, timing, and escalation of stakeholder communication
develop an integrated stakeholder communication strategy for a real workplace issue
Session 1: Stakeholder Strategy & Influence
October 31
Identify who matters to an issue and why. Map power, interest, influence, and relationships; clarify desired outcomes; and decide where communication effort should go.
Session 2: Audience Insight & Message Strategy
November 7
Understand stakeholder motivations, concerns, constraints, and decision criteria. Structure clear messages and adapt the same issue for different audiences.
Session 3: Influencing Without Authority
November 14
Build support through credibility, framing, evidence, shared interests, relationships, and timing. Practise making effective requests and influencing ethically across organizational boundaries.
Session 4: Resistance & Competing Interests
November 21
Diagnose what lies behind objections before responding. Separate positions from underlying interests, reframe issues, and protect relationships while maintaining strategic objectives.
Session 5: Creating Alignment Across Stakeholders
November 28
Maintain a consistent core message while adapting your approach. Sequence conversations, choose channels, build support, and manage escalation without creating contradictory communication.
Session 6: Integrated Stakeholder Strategy
December 5
Bring the course together through an integrated stakeholder challenge. Develop a communication strategy, test key messages and conversations, receive feedback, and create a practical personal action plan.
